Sinners

COME ON IN MOTHERFUCKERS••this wasn’t just a film; this was an erotic fever dream with white supremacists, vampires, and a soundtrack. i also must add, michael b. jordan made me (a straight man) feel things i’ve never felt before. but hey, that’s cinema.  but for real though, it’s time for business. first thing’s first, i need to watch this again, plain and simple. this film is jam packed with substance. lock in for the remainder of a lengthy review that isn’t so common for me anymore.  sinners takes a vampire premise that has been played out many times, and can be argued to be a bit tired, and makes it feel new and refreshing. ryan coogler (shoutout) turns a very simple premise when you boil it down, into something rich in substance, haunting, and hilarious. not only does it have a lot of depth, but there actually is a lot going on without it ever feeling cramped, you’re just going with the flow.  michael b. jordan is him. being able to play two twins, with enough variation, but still feel like two sides of the same coin, is very impressive. hailee steinfeld doesn’t do a whole ton, but she does exactly what’s required of her. oh and then of course miles caton. honestly the standout aside from MBJ. such an easy character to root for and stand behind.  the rest of the cast i can’t name, but they all did their thing and their characters’ importance were all felt. annie and pearline were great, i think annie is a very slept on character. the asian couple were great. cornbread had my theater rolling laughing a few times. same with delta SLIM!! an absolute dawg too i must add. oh fuck. jack o’connell i almost forgot about. that dude just seemed to be able to float effortlessly on screen.  and with that, i have to add that ryan’s ability to create villains that are villains, but are still persuasive in their messaging and are relatable to an audience, is insanely good. this guy does some legit villain shit, but then he’s all like “yo let’s unite and become one people and take out the real threat, together”. like…uh yeah i can get behind that. it puts the audience in a gray area where you’re allowed to really think and figure out what you’d actually do if you were there in those circumstances.  thematically i’m not even sure where to begin. i didn’t even wanna write a review just because i knew it’d be a little tricky trying to word things. that and again, it’s so rich in substance that i had no choice but to sit with it for the past 10 hours almost. the one thing i’ve seen pop up a few times is the idea of evil needing to be invited in and how that connects to what was mentioned a few times in the film about “you keep playing with the devil and he’s gonna get in” or whatever the wording was, and THEN how that connects to music, AND all of the subtext just with music. there’s so much i’m starting to regret this. so sammie’s the one that’s being told this right in the beginning with his dad in church and how that connects to the music and the spiritual stuff. but then we see the twins who are running back home from chicago where they clearly got into some shit. the evil is chasing them one way or another. basically they played with the devil and they slipped up in several ways. if you watched the film i don’t really need to explain every little thing. for sammie it’s more about the music and the literal spiritual implications of playing music so good that it literally transcends space and time. BUT for all of these people dealing with evil, whether it’s their own pasts, each other, the kkk, demonic spirits, or whatever, it all has to be LET IN. sammie was a guy who was able to chase artistry. he did what he knew he needed to, and we see that in the AMAZING credits scene. like he did it. he “played with the devil” most of his life, and never let it in. basically, we get to choose what we let in. just because you’re around something or subjected to something, does not mean you need to let it in. i think that’s super important.  i’ll break this up a bit here. there’s themes having to do with vampirism, cultural vampirism specifically. now im not saying i know all the details or anything, but i do know there’s a connection between irish and blues music. there was a lot of interplay between irish bluegrass and blues, and i think there’s a lot there to be said about the vampires/white people/irish music, and the black people/the blues. irish beer was also noted a few times because the twins got that from chicago.  to wrap it up thematically, i think there’s a lot, like a LOT. and there’s definitely a lot of good breakdowns out there you can learn from. i’m just kind of venting right now and letting my brain do whatever. but what’s cool about this film that i really appreciate, is that you know there’s important stuff being said, but it’s never like “oh ryan coogler’s just trying to shove this one thing in our faces”. it’s so deep and there’s so much to consider and think about that is really cool to me.  with the ending, we learn the guy that sold this place to them, is actually the grand wizard or whatever and was gonna use it as a place to be able to easily kill a lot of black people. so now that smoke knows that after shit dies down a little, he flips that on its head and waits for the kkk to show up, all in one spot, where he knows they’ll be…and he absolutely MOWS THEM DOWN. it was such an awesome scene. and i like how the guy is talking about how he has money, like that can just solve it. boom another theme.  but as he’s passing since he got shot, we see reality overlap with what’s to come after, and we see annie breastfeeding their dead child. and she’s dressed in white and it was a really sweet scene.  then that credits scene did a LOT for this film just in terms of bringing it all home. learning that smoke made a deal with stack to leave sammie alone was really cool. that and just seeing stack and mary in the different wardrobes and stuff was sick. because they could tell obviously that sammie’s about to kick the bucket, and wanted to offer to help him out, but he declines. when he says “i’ve seen enough of this place”, everyone was laughing and one woman in the back yelled “i know that’s right!” and then we all laughed more. but then sammie asks stack if he enjoyed that day or whatever, and he talks about how it was like the best day of his life and how he liked spending it with him and smoke, and how it was the last time he saw the sun. it was really heartwarming.  we gotta be grateful for the little things because one day we might turn into vampires and never see the sun again.  honestly just by writing this, i think i wanna give it a 5 stars. i was VERY stuck on a max of 4.5 just because of the basic story when it’s boiled down. but now im realizing just how much this affected me in a spiritual and emotional way and how much i’ll be thinking about this one for the rest of the year for SURE and how im gonna keep looking to see what other people think different things mean in the film. this is what cinema and watching films is about: being inspired, affected on various levels, having a fun time, thinking about life, and appreciating the art that makes it all come together.  so with that, i guess this is a 5 star film after all. if you read all of this, you might be insane. but also let me know if you did! edit: i forgot to mention, the score and soundtrack are both incredible. will be in the rotation for a while at least. the cinematography was great. technically it looks and feels and sounds amazing. edit: just wanna add this thread, i thought it was well worded: www.threads.net/@letters2chris/post/DIwvBKlyRIN?xmt=AQGzC8WgZ4X_xMSOVrG5pcdHhksmC9n6pwfAPGOpIgxXGQ